Rocket launches with laser spy satellite

May 18, 2001
Web posted at: 2:21 p.m. EDT (1821 GMT)

Technicians working on the GeoLITE satellite at the TRW plant

(CNN) -- A U.S. spy satellite designed to test experimental laser communications was launched on Friday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The two-ton spacecraft blasted off aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket at about 1:45 p.m. EDT.

"Everything is going extremely well," said Boeing spokeswoman Madonna Walsh shortly after the launch.

The satellite, called the Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology Experiment (GeoLITE), will test the ability of a laser communications system to transmit covert intelligence information, according to the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the fleet of U.S. spy satellites.

It also comes equipped with a conventional ultra-high frequency receiver to relay data to other intelligence gathering spacecraft.

The satellite will be stationed at a secret location in geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 22,000 miles (35,400 km), according to its designer, TRW Space & Electronics.

The Redondo, California-based military and civil aerospace giant has built numerous other spy orbiters for the U.S. military. Other satellite customers include NASA and the Republic of China.

Other partners in the $130 million GeoLITE mission include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Hughes Space and Communications Company.

GeoLITE draws on technology used in other TRW satellites, including the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth probe and an Earth Observing System spacecraft.

The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday but engineers postponed it to replace rocket hoses that they suspected might be faulty.